IRA B. LISS BIG BAND JAZZ MACHINE IS TASTY INDEED

By Joe Lang - Featured in the March issue of Jersey Jazz

Tasty Tunes (Tall Man – No Catalog Number) by the IRA B. LISS BIG BAND JAZZ MACHINE is tasty indeed.  This San Diego-based aggregation presents an 11-song program that includes pop and jazz standards like “You Don’t Know What Love Is,” “Early Autumn,” “Oleo,” and “Over the Rainbow.  Special guests include saxophonists Bob Mintzer and Eric Marienthal, guitarist Dean Brown and flautist Holly Hoffman, with Mintzer’s “When the Lady Dances” and Brown’s “Recon” included n the program.  Janet Hammer nicely contributes her vocal stylings to “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was,” “Nature Boy” and “You Turn Me on Baby,” a rarity by Cy Coleman that was written for a 1963 American Airlines promotional film.  The band is impressive in its ensemble playing, and the soloists measure right up to the guest soloists.  This Big Band Jazz Machine is well oiled and hums along smoothly.